Features
…of COVID-19 and high delivery fees
COVID-19 has pushed many consumers to jumped on online shopping because it has proven to be the most convenient way of buying during this era as people are cautioned to practice social distancing.
Stay away from overcrowded places and shopping centres are definitely places anyone mindful about their health will be careful about.
Therefore, digital marketing has become an ideal medium for businesses to promote their products and services.
Buying online is fast, easy and stress free as you confirm your order, pay for it before it’s delivered or pay on delivery but does this kind of convenience match with how much the ordinary Ghanaian has to pay as delivery fee?
Once a while I come across people ranting about how much they paid as delivery charges more than the cost price of the product they actually bought online but I flip over because it doesn’t concern me.
Lo and behold, I got my own share of how it hurts to feel that way. I was practically charged GH¢35 as delivery fee for GH¢ 20 meal I ordered from Adenta to Airport.
Honestly, I complained bitterly and called the food vendor to express my displeasure about the ridiculous fee though they reduced it to GH¢15 in the end, I paid feeling pained.
Note, it was not as if I could not afford the fee but it just did not make sense paying that much. And knowing how much they charge for deliveries in and around Accra, I just could not wrap my head around why this had to be so expensive.
On this note, I decided to conduct a social media survey on my personal blog, Kuburah Diamonds on Facebook just to be sure I was not over reacting about this particular delivery charge.
Below are the responses I sampled:
Hajia Faa Alfa said: “I think I had the worst experience ever. I bought waakye from Newtown GH¢30 and when the delivery guy got to me, he said delivery alone was GH¢50. So I asked him if what he was delivering was gold, I was so upset to the bone but I gave him the money.”
Another respondent, Jumai Abayor, ordered veils and decided to pick them up herself but the vendor gave them to delivery person and asked that she pay GH¢18 for delivery from Fan milk to Darkuman.
“I bought Jollof rice at GH¢40 from East Legon to be delivered to me at Labadi. He charged GH¢45 for delivery. I was very sick and hungry so I had no other choice but to pay never again,” Abdulai Fakiha said.
It is clear that some delivery fees charge by some business owners are becoming more expensive than the item itself.” There are similar experiences of other patrons who make orders.
Zulfawu Muntari, also an online shopper, explained “Because of high prices of delivery fee I have stopped buying online, their prices need to be regulated.”
Meanwhile others have found better ways of lessening the burden on their customers.
Muhammed Mijin Zealatu, a business owner, said: “When I started producing my own cereals, I did the deliveries myself. It was very stressful honestly but I got the chance to come to a negotiation with my customers so if the location is too far, I bear half of the delivery fee and the customer pays the rest so it wouldn’t cause any problems between them and the delivery guy.”
Another trader also said she had negotiated with the delivery company she worked with in order to manage cost incurred by customers. Others are asking their customers to pick items up themselves if the item does not require too much packaging.
I believe this issue is of much concern to many people especially in this pandemic era. It is not appropriate for business owners to take undue advantage of their patrons in the name of delivery fee.
Undoubtedly, most start ups – small to medium scale businesses fall largely on delivery services to run their day to day activities. However, they need not fleece their patrons. I suggest they take a second look at their charges.
Adizah Kuburah Braimah
Social Commentator @Kuburah Diamonds
Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
